Reds’ Moriwaki receives two-match ban

The J. League handed Urawa Reds defender Ryota Moriwaki a two-match ban on Tuesday for a derogatory remark during Thursday’s 1-0 home defeat to Kashima Antlers.

Kashima midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara had appealed to the league after the game insisting the defender said, “You stink” to Kashima’s Brazilian midfielder Leo Silva.

Moriwaki and Ogasawara were both heard by the league’s disciplinary committee on Sunday. Moriwaki said at the time the word was meant for Ogasawara, claiming he had been hit by saliva from the Antlers player.

Urawa, which let champion Kashima climb above it by two points at the top of the table with the defeat, will now be without Moriwaki for a trip to Niigata Albirex on Sunday and a home game against Shimizu S-Pulse on May 20.